Bringing Spring In!

hostasmith(5)March 12, 2014

Because I just couldn't wait for spring to get here, I brought some inside to get an early start. This may end up being a mistake, I don't know. I turned our unused "Garden Tub" into a mini greenhouse and now have some that are about to unfurl!

Rockets Red Glare

Ben Vernooij

Frozen Margarita

Stephan King

Key West

I also have American Halo, Dream Queen, Smash Hit and Regal Supreme in the tub, but they came in later and as far along, yet.

What a fun thing to do with all that miserable cold weather you folks are having back East. Growers do that all the time to have the plants in full foliage for plant shows, etc. I am in a different zone and 90% of my hostas are coming up, with about a dozen already leafed out. Enjoy your jump on Spring!

If I can offer one piece of advice from my own experience? Do not let them stay too wet after bringing them in. I almost completely lost the one that started this adventure, my Earth Angel sport, I did not re-pot it in fresh, dry mix and it rotted most of the roots off. I also almost lost my Regal Supreme the same way. They are both on the mend now and hopefully the Earth Angel sport makes it, it has a few small roots that are white and healthy. I now wait until they completely thaw, about 24 hours, then I put them in a 5:1:1 mix of bark fines, peat and perlite. I don't know if it because of the rapid transition from frozen to 70 degrees or what, but it doesn't take long to bring on the rot.

Now I am thinking about putting up a small 1/2' pvc cold frame, after this next thaw and putting in some 5 quart jugs of used motor oil I have in the garage, I am either going to paint them black or wrap them in landscaping material so they absorb heat during the day and release it into the cold frame at night. Our ten day forecast only calls for one day to have lows much below freezing. The rest of the time it is supposed to be in the upper 40's to lower 50's for the highs.

It will have to wait until the next weekend, though, Hosta College is this weekend.

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I brought them in and in my excitement, used my hand to gently splash a few drops just on top, then my brain kicked in and I stopped. I came back to post a surprise and found your remarks..I remember how sopping wet everything was last fall, so much rain, then everything froze! They sure don't need additional moisture at this time. I will wait till tomorrow and inspect root system. If they are sopping wet after thawing, I will repot in fresh medium as you suggested. For now I will try to curb my enthusiasm so I don't drown them!

I have never over wintered potted hosta before ... They all grew in the ground. But how exciting is this? As I was selecting which minis and smalls to bring in ... and cutting off the dry leaves from fall (duh, I didn't do the "trimming" after I placed them in the garage) guess what I discovered on 'Holy Mouse Ears' ? GREEN-tipped buds!!! YAHOO! I rooted around and found that the roots immediately beneath the crown also show fresh white growth! This is astounding to me, to say the least and I am so excited! I can't contain myself...
Here are a couple of pics to share with you.

Do you see the green tips to the right of the "crater" in the centre of the first photo?

Here is a shot of the new roots...I learned a little trick from Cindy of Hosta Fever (my main hosta supplier) I slightly elevated the crown so some of the roots were exposed, but not too much. My intent was to encourage faster growth and exposure to sunlight and at the same time protect the crown from rot...being so small, it is susceptible to being smothered by surrounding soil and mulch -especially during a downpour. I do this primarily with my minis.

Smith, you were the catalyst for me today! :-). Thank you again. It was most thoughtful of you for providing the link as well which I will read as soon as I post this.

I neglected to mention how great your plants look! When did you bring them out? They are so far along already!

I brought mine in around the 3rd of March. They were in our daughters room until I made the light hoods for my Grandfathers greenhouse and I had a couple extras, so I set one up in our bathroom.

I actually make my own mix now. I buy pine bark and run it through a chipper/shredder and I have a 4 cubic foot bag of perlite and bags of peat. I shredded a bunch of bark last fall and put it in storage bins. I plan on doing a bunch of repotting this spring. The mix works great for grandpas Orchids.